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 On the Mingfeng Mountains, seven kilometres to the east of
Kunming,
there is a fine building made of bronze. This is the largest Taoist
Tongwa (bronze-tiled) Temple in China and has been preserved almost
intact. It is
commonly known as Jindian (the Golden Temple).
The Golden Temple was first built in the 30th year of Emperor Wanli's
rule (1602) in the Ming Dynasty. Yunnan was ordered to send the
bronze ore
from Dongchuan to central China to make coins. But a war blocked
the road.
The governor of Yunnan, Chen Yongbing, and Qianguogong, the Duke of
Guizhou
Province, Mu Changzuo, ordered that the bronze be used to build a
temple
in imitation of the Taihe Palace and the Golden Temple on Tianzhu
Peak in
the Wudang Mountains, Hubei Province. The temple was later moved
to the
Jizu Mountains in western Yunnan. During the reign of the Qing
Emperor
 Kangxi(1662-1722), Wu Sangui, a military general, rebuilt the
temple, keeping
the original Hubei design. The bronze used weighed over 200tons.The
temple
walls were made with cast panels covered with exquisite and
diverse
designs.
They are examples of the smelting and casting techniques in Yunnan a
few centuries ago.
In front of the staircase outside the Golden Temple, the wide
branched
camellias are called "Diechi" （Butterfly Wings）. They are covered
with
thousands of flowers in the depth of winter. The two myrtles
 close
by were
planted in the Ming Dynasty. At the top of the mountain behind the
temple
hangs a 14-ton "Great Bell of the Ming Yongle Era". 2.1 meters
tall and
6.7 meters in circumference, the bell was cast in
the 21st year of the Yongle era(1424), over 560
years ago. It used to hang in Xuanhua Mansion in
Kunming to announce the time. When Kunming expanded however, it was moved to the Golden Temple. In
recent years, the Temple has been expanded several
times when the "Parrot Garden", the "Camellia
Garden", and the "Orchid Garden" were added.
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